Labour Party Coastal towns 'left behind' by the Tories

Corbyn notes potential of seaside towns in visit to Southend

JEREMY CORBYN went to the seaside yesterday to seek input on a major project to boost jobs, industry, fishing trades and local economies in deprived coastal towns.

The Labour leader was joined by shadow minister for coastal communities Holly Lynch in the Essex town of Southend, his first destination in a series of visits to seaside constituencies around Britain.

They met civic and business leaders to discuss how to support coastal industries, fisheries, and services after Brexit takes effect.

Mr Corbyn said: “Seaside towns hold a special place in our country’s history, but they have been left behind by the Conservatives.

“Instead of being neglected and starved of investment, our coastal communities have enormous potential as centres for creative, digital and offshore industries.”

Rochford and Southend East is on Labour’s priority list of constituencies to win from the Conservatives, along with Norwich North and Colchester, Mr Corbyn told the party’s eastern region conference earlier this month.

He hit back last night at US-owned bank Morgan Stanley after it accused him of being a “bigger threat to the economy than a hard Brexit.”

In a video message, Mr Corbyn said: “These are the same speculators and gamblers who crashed our economy in 2008 and then we had to bail them out.

“Their greed plunged the world into crisis and we’re still paying the price, because the Tories used the aftermath of the financial crisis to push through unnecessary and deeply damaging austerity.

“That’s meant a crisis in our public services, falling wages and the longest decline in living standards for over 60 years.

“Nurses, teachers, shopworkers, builders, just about everyone is finding it harder to get by, while Morgan Stanley’s CEO paid himself £21.5 million last year and UK banks paid out £15 billion in bonuses.

“Labour is a growing movement of well over half a million members and a government in waiting that will work for the many. So when they say we’re a threat, they’re right. We’re a threat to a damaging and failed system that’s rigged for the few.”

Labour will receive an independent report next month on the finance sector, with recommendations on how the party can most effectively transform the economy to drive sustainable growth.